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2012 Year End Review: The women ranked Nos. 1-5

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This concludes our review of the top 50 singles players in 2012 on the ATP and WTA Tours. We end with the women ranked Nos. 1 -5.

1.Victoria Azarenka

Without question, 2012 was the Belarussian’s best season to date as she grew up, became less emotional on court, a more sure-handed volleyer and more clear- headed player. When it comes to pure ball striking from inside the baseline, she’s right there with anyone, including Serena, who owned her all season long.

But where she can’t touch Williams is in the service department, and she does return first serves that well even though she can scald second service returns. She also does not have Williams supreme confidence in meaningful matches against super elite players..like..well…Serena.

But maybe, just maybe after she nearly bested Williams in a terrific US Open final she’ll come into Melbourne thinking she has a real chance against her and actually pull off the win. But she may have to get to through Sharapova first and while she proven herself to be a better outdoor  hard-court player than Maria was in 2012, she did take two losses to the Russian (both indoors) and the four-time Slam champ isn’t exactly scared of her.

The 23 year old was hands down the best player of her good generation this year, leading Radwanska, Kvitova, Wozniacki in her year view mirror (although Cibulkova did shock her at Roland Garros). But Caro has ways played her tough, she didn’t get a chance to show Kvitova – who owns a winning record against Azarenka – her much improved self, and she has really gotten into Radwanska head and game.

All those players will take a run at her next year and it will be fascinating to see if Vika can stay composed, continue to improve, win another major or two and finish the year at No. 1 again. I suspect that Azarenka will be in the fight, but she’ll spend part of the year battling not only her rivals, but herself  and her critics too.

2. Maria Sharapova

It’s possible that after she retires, that 2012 will go down as Sharapova best year post her 2008 shoulder surgery. That’s not because it was an purely brilliant year for the Russian, but because she grabbed one Slam title (Roland Garros), reached another Slam final (Australia), won two other titles (Rome and Stuttgart), won the Olympic silver medal and was the runner up at the WTA Championships. That may be all she’s capable of now 10 years into her career. She’s a very tough woman mentally and is much more physically strong than she is given credit for, but her tall and once thin frame is not built for Federer-esque brilliance into her 30s. Yes, the 25 year old has become a lot better since she won her first major at 2004 Wimbledon, which was witnessed by how she learned to play on clay and actually made it in some ways her best surface, when years ago is was obviously her worst. But it is unlikely that her serve will ever get much better due to on and off pain in her shoulder, she’s not going to get much faster, or grow in love with the net.

Sure she can become better balanced, control her often blazing forehand more often, and get a better interpretation of her foes first serves, but is there really room for more than a 5% improvement in her game overall. Perhaps, but I don’t see it.

But let’s assume that she makes those improvements, which will put her in contention at every Slam. She could win two more next year (depending on Serena’s level, of course),  but I would be surprised if Generation Caro/Vika/Aga/Petra weren’t able to stay with her in 2013, and there are other young players who would like to try and run her ragged too.

So for Sharapova fans, that she was able to complete a career Grand Slam  by winning Roland Garros is something not only worth celebrating, but something they may have to hold on to well into the future.

3. Serena Williams

I wrote volumes on Serena this year and don’t want to overdue it here as a result, but suffice to say that post her Roland Garros meltdown, she had a extraordinarily great summer, a Steffi Graf type of summer when she won Wimbledon, Stanford, two Olympic golds and the US Open. She capped that off with a superior run at the year-end WTA Championships, where she was never severely threatened

Serena has 15 Slam crowns now and is definitely within shouting distance of catching the No’s  3 and 4 players on the all time singles list in Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, both of whom have 18. Whether Serena is going to catch them will largely determined by how healthy she is, and how committed she remains. Off clay and slow hard courts it does not appear  she  really  feels threatened by anyone, and that includes the rest of thru top 5. She is but no means a perfect player and can be had on down days, but on very good ones she’s pretty much untouchable on her favorite surfaces.  At her current level, she is hands-down the best layer in the game and everyone else needs to play catch up. They had better get a move on soon, as second ‘Serena Slam’ is well with in Ms. Williams’ grasp.

 4. Agnieszka Radwanska

The smallest yet most creative player in the top 5 isn’t boastful, she does not grunt loudly or try and direct all the worlds attention at herself, but she’s extremely effective when she digs into a match and can use her quick feet, wits and under rated groundies to dictate play.

The Pole is ranked exactly where she should be: behind three players who have excellent records against her, but she has had some success against Azarenka prior to 2012 before she became psyched out; she did manage to topple Sharapova once, and did play an overall excellent final against Serena at Wimbledon, even though she was unable to beat her.

Aga has won Masters Series titles, finally reached a Slam final and the No. 2 ranking. What’s left for her is an attempt to snare No.1 for the fist time and to win a Grand Slam  title. She does have the capability to do so with the right draw (which means no back to back matches vs. Azarenka and Serena), but as much as I appreciate how much she gets out of her game, I do have doubts about her confidence level at times and she is going to have to show me she can actually do it.

5. Angelique Kerber

Germany has a lot to celebrate on the WTA these days with slew of good players, but in 2012 it only has one consistently excellent one, Kerber, whose strong legs, commitment to defense, heavy forehand and developing left handed serve locked herself into the top 5. She is by no means just a counterpuncher, but she is super steady and knows how to work the points.  She had more than few long and memorable wins, but not one bigger than her nail tough quarterfinal win over in county rival Sabine Lisicki at Wimbledon, and that includes her upset of Serena at Cincy. She did suffer two head-scratching losses to  Errani at Roland Garros and the US Open, when the old Angie returned, the one who lacked faith in her shots and had trouble focusing.

However I have not doubt that with a bit more seasoning and a few minor improvements that Kerber is capable of winning a major. In fact, if she slides backward due to any other factor than injury, I would be surprised. Somewhere inside of her beats a champion’s heart.

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